Los Angeles Lakers: Who Is Really to Blame for Struggles Against OKC Thunder

For most of Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals, it looked as though the Los Angeles Lakers would even the series against Kevin Durant and the dangerous Oklahoma City Thunder.  Kobe Bryant and his teammates had a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but then the house fell down.

In something so uncharacteristic of how they had played all night, the Lakers fell asleep in the fourth quarter, lost 103-100 and now must win the crucial Game 5 in Oklahoma City tomorrow night.  As is always the case with bad losses like this one, fingers are being pointed and people are being blamed for the Lakers' performance this round.  The question is simple: Who actually deserves it?

Perhaps Pau Gasol is the guilty party.  He was absolutely awful in Game 4, scoring just 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and pulling down just five rebounds.  The seven-footer also did his best LeBron James impression by being a non-factor in the fourth quarter of an important game, and Kobe Bryant actually called him out for doing so.  Gasol was also responsible for the turnover that led to Kevin Durant's tie-breaking three-pointer with seconds to go, so it's understandable why he would be the one to blame.

Or perhaps Andrew Bynum is the reason the Lakers haven't looked themselves since the start of the series against the Thunder.  After a career season and amazing first round against Denver, he's looked oddly soft on defense against Oklahoma City, only breaking out the defensive intensity the past couple of games.

Yet, even in Game 4, something was missing from him.  As the team's center, his job is to work the middle with strength and finesse, score on the inside and draw fouls.  He scored 18 points and had nine rebounds to go with three blocks, but he only attempted two free throws.  To give everyone an idea of how often the former first-round pick has gotten to the line this series, he had attempted 33 shots from the charity stripe his previous four games.

However, it isn't solely Gasol, Bynum or even Bryant who's to blame for the Lakers' 3-1 deficit.  Rather, the guilty party is none other than head coach Mike Brown.

Sure, Brown has done a decent job with the Lakers in his first season taking over for Hall of Famer Phil Jackson, but I'm still trying to understand his coaching last night in the fourth quarter.  First off, why was Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest fourth-quarter performers in NBA history, on the bench to start that frame?

On top of that, take a look at the video from Oklahoma City's fateful possession.  Is it just me, or did the Los Angeles defense look unusually soft, given the situation?

If you look closely, Metta World Peace practically gives Durant a good look at the basket and barely contests his shot.  I understand how Russell Westbrook had the hot hand in Game 4, scoring 37 points to Durant's 31, but Durant is easily one of the best players in the NBA, if not the best.  The defensive approach on him and the rest of the Thunder with that little time left should have been as follows: complete lock-down, no questions asked.

Instead, Brown got cocky and thought that the game would be handed to him on a silver platter.  As a result, the Lakers got sloppy in the fourth quarter and were outscored 32-20 en route to a crushing defeat.  When it became time to stop playing on autopilot, Brown clearly couldn't get his head together and drew up a defensive scheme that I have aptly named, "Hand OKC the Game for Free."

That all being said, while Kobe Bryant's calling out of Pau Gasol wasn't necessarily unjustified, the Lakers' players are the last people fans should be blaming for the Game 4 loss.  Instead, the fingers should be pointed at Mike Brown, who clearly doesn't realize that the players he has on his roster are actually open to being coached and not complete divas like James, his star player when he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With Game 5 set to be played in front of a raucous Oklahoma City crowd, Brown had better be ready to act like a coach and not just some guy who patrols the sidelines.